Day 16 - Nong Khai to Vientienne

Woke up early at 7am and went out for a short stroll at 8am. The air is a little chilly. Guess the cold season is on the way. Many of the shops are still closed so I made my way back to the hotel to make myself some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast. Oh it good.

10.30am will start my short trip across the border to Laos. I'm excited with anticipation.

On the way out of Nong Khai, there was some kind of a street celebration. Some roads were blocked. Maybe someone is getting married?

Reached the friendship bridge to Laos at about 12pm. Immigration and customs clearance took about an hour.
Had to go to room 15 for inspection of documents and room 8 to get the customs chief's approval. Their efficiency level is rather low but at least they were helpful.

In all, I paid 160B for customs clearance and 162B for 2 weeks of bike insurance. The insurance guy, Charles, told me that the roads are still rather bad as the rainy season had just ended.

After that, I rode 18km into town and had a good recce around. Spent a good 1 hour going round the town before deciding on Haksanon guesthouse for US$20 a night. It has a huge ground level room with wifi and the location is just beside the main 'shopping belt' just by the Mekong riverside and the eateries and pubs nearby.

The weather is extremely hot today and I'm feeling the heat. Need to hide in my room for a while

About 5pm went out to exchange some Laotian kips. The exchange rate was US$1 = 7991 kips. My US$30 yielded me 240,000 kips!! The lady in front to me became an instant millionaire.

Had an early dinner of a beef baguette as well as a carrot shake and banana shake. Costing me a grand total of 26000kips. (US$3.25) The food was simple but good.

Went to the riverside to see the sunset by the Mekong river then went back to the hotel to keep my bike so that I can explore by foot. The dog at the hotel is so cute!

Next up, took a walk around the night market. It's boring compared to those in Thailand. Bought potato korokke and beer Lao for 18000kips ($2.25) Beer Lao tastes like tiger beer.

Maybe later go check out some of the pubs I saw earlier.

9pm went out for a short ride around town and found a huge night bazaar. Didn't go as I'm quite bored of night markets and their boring imitation stuff.

Rode around town looking for a pub with less farangs as I'm quite sick of them too. Found Sam Yak restaurant/pub about 200m from my hotel. Real nice relaxed atmosphere with life band. Nice place to chill. From the 3rd floor platform, I got a very nice view of Thailand over the Mekong river.

Had fried meatballs and spring rolls washed down with nice cold beer Lao for 70,000kips (US$8.75) A great way to end the night.

Expenses:

Hotel - US$20
Laos entry - 160B
Insurance - 162B
F&B - 20B + US$14.25